Process of garbage incineration



Patented Sept. 18, 1923.

:ir ED FREDERICK H. -ooL'LrNs AND MARTIN L. rnnnnr'r, or VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA.

Pnocnss or Generics iNoiNnnafrioN.

A. `AppiiczuimiVfiieaianwuy 22, 191e. sensi No. 272,573.

To all whomz't may concern:

.in Processes of lGarbage Incineration, of

whichthefollowing is a specification. l

This inventionV relates to a process of garbage incineration, Aas partially `involved in the apparatus disclosed 4in our 4patent entitled. Incinerator, issued June 19, 1917, andbearing the Number 1,230,380. y l .It isthe principal object of the` present inventionvto Aprovide aprocess by which Vgarbage vand other'refuse may becco/nomi- `cally destroyed bythe use of `a Vminimum Aamount vof fuel and with` the result that completedestructi'on of Athe garbage will take place as well as a desirable recovery of the oils andfats made therefrom. vThis process representsan economical mannerof disposing of the garbagein large cities and insures that a largevolume of refuse may Ves be 'destroyed verysmall costvin VcomH parison to .processes now Vin use.

Briefly considered, the process `involves theV use cfa. furnace withinwliich the garbage .isincinerated and towhich it is deliveredvfrom adrying retort, said retort'being,heated by aci'rculation of the: gases lof combustion from the: furnace, after-which the f ases are treated for Vthe recovery of valua lesolids. .l V 'Y f The. invention` is illustratedby way of eX- ample in the. accompanying drawing in which: v A.

lillustratesan.apparatus by which the. process may becarried out.

2 villustrates va battery. ofl furnaces showing lthe drafty arrangement.

In the drawings, 10 indicates anA Ameinen ating furnace ybuilt substantially'as disclosed -in thev patentaboverefferred to.f 'nacehas a side wall 11 covered by anarchshaped dome12.. Within the furnace a hearth 13 .is Aformed.and:` carries a setA of grate bars 14. Y This structure. isy disposed xralong one side. of the furnaceso. thatthe llames` from the materialburning, Vthereupon may plass across. the; furnace. to .a flue. open- 'ing 15 leading. outwardly andnpwardlyto Aa stack. 16. l Formed alonsidev of' the lhearth 'is afloor.1Tcarrying,traclfrails'l flAdu'mp [car19fi`s adaptedtoy move along` these railsY Vand to carry material into and out'of the furnace when desired. This car is prefer* fably provided as a loading platform onto which the material to be destroyed is deposited from a feedl opening 20 in the dome lretort has downwardly converging side walls lformed of ireproof material and4 adapted to withstand the heat of the gases of combustion passing upwardly through the stack and into the retort through the pipe 24. This pipe communicates with the retort near the bottom thereof. Combined closing and feed members 25 are hinged at the top of the retort and normally separate it from a feedhopper 26 in the manner described in our patent previously referred to.

VIn order to conserve a portion of the heat passing through the retort, water-backs 27 are disposed along the' inner faces of the side walls and in spaced relation thereto. This structure may be connected to anyde- .sired appara-tus, either for heating or'power purposes. At the same time the pipes will Y Y form a circulating space between through which 'the products of combustion from vthe furnace may pass 4and by which means a Vmore'thorough distribution ofthe gas will be effected, thus uniformlydrying the material in the retort. VOnthe opposite side ofthe retort from the inlet Y.pipe 241 and near the top thereof is an outlet pipe 28. This pipe connects with a suitable circulatingk fan `or motor 29 by which a suction draft is 'created through the furnace and the retort and fromv which the gases are .caused to trayelalo'ng a conduit 30 leading to a reclaiming apparatus. 31. It will be understood that while the structure 31 is here shown vin a diagrammatical manner, that vit may beposs'ible to interpose anyA means for clarifying thegases and recovering the `desirable solids therefrom, after which the fcl'arified gas may be `returned to the cleanvingl hopper 32 of the furnace through a pipe means found convenient. Suitable airinlets lare provided, as, for example, openings may be understood vthat 4plurality of incinerating 'furnaces may be arranged, as

through and beneaththe charging door as shown in Figure 2. Condensate which-may accumulate inpipe 33 :is drawn off through pipe 33. A blower 35 is provided and connected with pipe 33. This blower communi'-V cates with the furnace, preferably at a point beneath the grate bars 14:, and also by means of a pipe 37 extending beneath the car 19. In carrying out the present invention, 'it

indicated in Fig. Q'of the drawings, and

thus the capacity'ofl a plant maybe in-` creased by multiplication of the ineinerating `units rather than the increase in capacity of'a single unit. Due to this stifucture, one of thefurnaces may be used, if desired, or

`all may be set in operation and placed in communication `with each other and the flues, VorifV desired, the furnaces may be separately connected'with their individual flues and operation of any one ofthe units Y discontinued, thus making it possible to maintainthe incinerating plant in operation Vcontinuously, at theV same time providing for repairs and the cleaning of the separate units.` When the furnace is set in operation,

" a load. of garbage is-delivered to the car 19,

either through the hopper 21er by almanual delivery. A fire may be then started upon the grate barslC ,or suitable burners may be provided'which use liquid Vor gaseous fuel.

5f The flame will be caused to pass horizontally `tremely hot Ewall of the furnace? domeLf .and vertically due to the fire box construc-V tion and the flue position. At the Sametime that"V combustion takes place inthe grate area, gasesare being delivered `to the bottom Aof the furnace by .means of the pipe 37. A

further draft be brought about by con- 'trol of air passage through andaroundthe front firing door of the furnace. The flames will lpass'upwardly around the dome and at the Sametime willpass aroundand` bereflected in a horizontal lplane. As the gases frompipe 33 pass up aroundand through the car-19, they vwill tend toA lift the gases and vaporescaping from the garbage and `force this gas upwardly into theV topof'the furnace dome.V VIn many instances theprodthe pipe 33,@to be ignited againsttheV eX- Thorough ignition is assured, due fto the Vfact that the flamefroin the grate 14 is`V passing'fin a horizontal path of travel and Vwithin the dome, atthe same time being actedupoii by the upwardly flowing air so "that'a constant agitation of the gas will be effected andthe products' of combustion rising from the garbage will thus be thoroughly intermingled with the` burning gas. v This intermingling action will insure that a substantially complete combustion of the garbage will take place withinthe furnace.

Due to this fact,vthe gas passing outwardly through the flue'opening 15 and upwardly through the stack 16 willbe practically free from odor and will therefore represent gas` resultant from a desirable combustionof the material within the furnace. j i

By regulation of a damper'l Aupon'the top of the stack, the gases passing through the stack 19 may be controlled and diverted hydrate the garb-age within theV hopperv or retort `2l and will carry Yoff 'the'vapor and greasy' matter suspended therein Vas it passes in any volumeld'esired to the pipe 24. j As l this gas is dry, V:it will actreadily to de'-V l to the pipe 28.V This will vplace the material within'the retort in a condition :for ignition ,f5- `so that whenthedoor 22 is Vmoved aside: the

material will fall uponftliefcarf19fand 'will Y burn, dueY to the intense lieatwithin the,

furnace, this heat being *caused* by the' lburning gases" inV the'dome.'` Experience has proven thatffafter the-'furnace hasibeeii? raised to its proper temperature, it may be maintained in operationby the burningof the garbage upon the carjf19 andthe com` bnstion of the gases in the dome ofthe fur! nace. As the gas passes from the retort 21,1

it will be delivered, from pipe 28` to pipeV 30 byineans of the'fan29, this'pipe'being in fdirect communication with a "clarifier oriHv Vother apparatus for the cleaning of the gas and the recovery ofvaluable'niatter suS..A y

pended therein. .The Vclarified Vgas isthen 'returned to the furnace through the pipe fand may thereafterco-mingle withthe air being admitted throughand aroundthe fin ing door as well,asthe'gases'createdwithin the furnace. 5 ThusV it will be Aassuredfthat Va very desirable destruction ofthe material and its gases will be effected; *A sthe process iio is continued, anf 'accumulation ofV non-cornbustib'le material'will take place upon the `car and this may-be carried ou t on the car.

The ashes thereafter will becarried vaway" hy the' conveyera. It will befunderstood thatthis conveyer may be of a screw type,

Vas shown, or maybe a belt conveyerfelevating the ashes toV a `convenient point,Y

InA the event thatwater vapor passes off i throughthe pipe V33, it may be desirable Vto "-3 vprovide a trap V33 eonnected witlia sewer, through which the condensed vapor .may be Y Arteritieni is'giireted tof there@ riiain the'performance' ofthe apparatus herejdisf closed,jin the manner desc'rib `ed,fa Yvery high grade V'of potash will be obtainedj This `is Ydue to vthefactthat the most intense'heat inV Vthe furnace is along thedome thereof. Thus,

the temperature `will be gradually lowered near the top Aof'tlietruok and-will beconizo iso

Y in the garbage may be recovered, as well asthe potash, all of which operation and recovery will be accomplished without throwing greasy smoke of objectionable odor into the atmosphere.

While we have shownV the preferred steps in our process, it will be understood that various changes might be inade by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention asrclaimed.

The hopper or retort 21 is provided Awith a condensation drain 21 through which the condensed greases and acids may be drained from the dehydrating material, thus causing a direct recovery of a certain portion of the by-products of the garbage.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A process of garbage incineration which consists in burning garbage in a furnace,

passing a part of the hot gases of combustion from the furnace through a mass of raw garbage at a point exterior of the furnace whereby the raw garbagewvill be dried, thereafter feeding the raw garbage to the vfurnace for burning, drawing off the gases incident to the drying of the raw garbage, clarifying the same and delivering the claried gases to burn with the previously dried garbage.

2. The process of garbage incineration which consists in burning raw garbage in a furnace, drawing olf the gases of combustion through a flue, diverting a desired volume of these gases through a mass of raw garbage .disposed at a point exterior of the furnace and by which gases the raw garbage will be dehydrated, thereafter feeding the dried garbage to the'furnace for destruction, drawing off the gases from the raw garbage, passing the saine to clarifying means and then delivering these gases to the furnace to burn with the previously dehydrated garbage.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK H. COLLINS. MARTIN L. PELLETT.

Witnesses: Y

W. W. HEALEY, W. E. EwiNG. 

